


The Floating City of Nightvale

by frahnkocean, voltronhomos



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Cecil's barely human, Cecilos trash, Cyberpunk Desertbluffs, M/M, Sorry Not Sorry, Steampunk, Twisted and Fluffy Feelings, not so fluffy problems, strap in this ones probably gonna be a sad one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-06-04
Packaged: 2018-03-29 13:44:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3898474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frahnkocean/pseuds/frahnkocean, https://archiveofourown.org/users/voltronhomos/pseuds/voltronhomos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Flux pinning: The phenomenon where a superconductor is pinned in space above a magnet.</p><p>Thats what Carlos and the rest of his team of scientists to work on. Its supposed to be a simple task, but its proving to be more difficult then expected when you throw in motion sickness, Nightvale's cyberpunk neighbouring community and a cute radio host.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Floating City of Nightvale

**Author's Note:**

> I shall note here that I am no scientist and literally have no idea about any of the sciency things I list. Sorry, to all the people who actually know how physics work.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carlos' internet stalking skills are put to the test as he tries to find out all about the floating city of Nightvale

 

The high-paced alternative rock music of The Weather sounded through Carlos’ ears as he waited for the broadcast to start up again.

 

Earlier on, no more then 3 hours from this moment, Carlos’ boss had decided to send some of the Universities best scientists to a rather new establishment by the name of Nightvale. He, being one of those scientists, had decided to see what this place was all about. He opened up a new browser window and begun his search. He didn't even glance down at the keyboard as he plugged in his search, a skill he had learnt during months of long-lasting and boring touch typing lessons during high school. The loading bar zipped across the screen as the results loaded one by one. Carlos leant forward, his lab coat slightly tight around his shoulders and back, and clicked on the first result, the ‘Official Homepage for The Floating City of Nightvale’. The page began to load. Images of a town that looked almost fictional popped up around the screen, followed by ‘Welcome to Nightvale, the floating paradise!’ written in a dark purple scrawl. He decided to investigate more, and clicked on the ‘about’ button. His eyes skimmed through the description,

 

“A place like no other… steam-powered machinery… islands held up by air balloons..? I thought all systems like that were shut down…?” He wondered aloud.The scientist raised an eyebrow and smirked, so thats why he had been employed. Remembering the previous conversation with his boss, he recalled something about installing a flux pinning system that would make the island much more stable, but he wasn't yet sure how. “I guess thats why I'm staying there for… how many months again?” he groaned, leaning his face into his palm, assuring himself it wasn't going to be as boring as he thought it was, and continued to pick through the ‘Floating City of Nightvale!’. Virtually, of course.

 

He continued to look around at the website, eventually landing himself on the ‘Important Denizens of Nightvale' list. He scrolled through the pages, eyes flickering from description to description. His eyes caught onto the photo of a dark figure, he wasn't sure if it was human or automaton, but the title adjacent to the photo read ‘Chief of the Sherif’s Secret Police’, with no other description or information. Carlos’ decided to ignore the eerily odd profile and continue scrolling. Soon enough he reached another interesting profile which read ‘Cecil Gershwin Palmer, the Voice of Nightvale’. There was a description, but he didn’t read any of it, his eyes had shot straight to the profile picture. 

 

“Is that an… eye?” Carlos questioned, attempting to zoom in on the photo. Thanks both to the low quality of the photo and his substandard internet speed, he couldn't seem to work it out. So far all he could work out from the photo was that the man didn't seem to have a real smile, was that even a smile? Maybe he just didn't like smiling, but he was cute in a weird way, none the less. He continued to scroll down the list, “Janitor, HR assistant, town nurse…”

 

Carlos’ subtle, online stalking was soon interrupted by one of his fellow team members barging through the doors. His steps were heavy, and seemed rather rushed,

 

“Sorry! I just need to get one of the…” The scientists voice died out as he began to clumsily flick through the sheets of paper in his clipboard, some of the paper flying from his arms and dancing in the air before falling to the ground. “Ah yes! Here it is! T.. the..” The scientists voice trailed off once more as he tried to pronounce the following equipment he needed. Shutting his laptop, Carlos patiently walked over to the scientist and let out a small sigh as he held out his hand.

 

“Don’t worry, I’ll deal with it.” He said with a smile. He remembered when he was only beginning too, and he had made the exact same mistakes as the newbie scientists. He turned around and bent to the ground as he began to gather the equipment needed for the trip.

 

“Thanks!” The younger scientist yelled, turning and running out the door, he seemed excited to leave the labs. Carlos began to collect the equipment needed, a neodymium magnet, some assorted test-tubes and beakers, he began to lay all the equipment out on the table before going to find one of those special bags that they kept around here which held the special equipment in foam. As he did so, the faint crackle of the long forgotten broadcast began to form a voice, and though barely understandable because the radio station was so far away and so high up, he could still make out the words spoken.

 

** “A friendly floating community where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, and mysterious lights pass all around our little island while we all, pretend, to sleep, Welcome to Night Vale.” **

 

 

-

 

 

** “Hello listeners, to start things off I've been asked to read this brief notice, The City Council, would like to inform the populace that a team of scientists will be arriving in Nightvale in a day or so. And… that’s it. No other information? That's weird. Then, at the bottom of the note, there is a small dark ink splotch, and the City Council’s signature, scrawled and with multiple layers, overlapping. As if signed many times, in the same place, simultaneously. **

** Old Woman Josie, said that the angels, who do not exist, told her that they were ten feet tall, radiant and one of them was a latino. Isn’t that exciting! Let us hope that they do not come with murderous intentions, nor let them bringa variety of flesh eating viruses that take over the body and infect the ones that they do- and do not love into our safe little community. No sir, we don't want that to happen again! **

** They will be working on the flux pinning project, which is something or other about magnets. I am not too sure Nightvale, nor will I ever be, for I am not a scientist, and assumed knowledge is arrogance. This also led to Steve Carlsberg attempting to call me, which I declined multiple times before my phone accepted the call anyway. **

** He began blabber on about how he had the ability to see the magnetic forces, and how he would be a ‘valuable’ addition to the scientists team if they ever needed any help. To which I replied, why are you calling me, **

** S t e v e C a r l s b e r g ?  **

** How can I trust you to take care of my personal information, when you can’t even take care of a tan, 1995 Toyota Corolla!? And as soon as he took a breath of air and stopped talking, I hung up. What can I say? I thought he had finished the conversation! Plus, I needed to feed Khoshekh! Being a cat owner takes up time you know!  **

** Oh! and it seems that the factory employee that was stuck in the Steam Machine has been removed! Forcibly, and in many pieces. They were happily able to get the fellow worker out of the machine before his whole body was liquidated, his legs, not so much. But that’s why we have our mechanical limbs! John Peters, you know, the worker? Has decided to return to his previous career of invisible farming because. Well, it seems that the sun is now setting, or perhaps rising, or stuck in an infinite flux of both, never-ending or beginning. Either way, it is absolutely, utterly magnificent. **

** And now, listeners, I take you to the weather.” **

 

 

The sound of alternative indie music filled the station as the radio host leaned back in his chair, the legs slightly creaking under his weight. He folded his arms behind his back and shut two of his eyes. The third one that was implanted on his forehead was slightly different. It was made from cast bronze metal for the casing and white painted quicksilver for the eyeball, embedded with a simple purple gem as the iris, which was kept at a constant melting point so when it moved, the eyeball flowed like molten metal. Cecil didn't know the exact type of the gem and frankly, he didn't really mind. It worked, and though it didn't look as normal as a real eye, it did its job. 

 

He was not the one who chose it after all, though he did like its design. It allowed him to see the whole of his floating community through other small cameras placed around the floating town. As he focused on the view of his singular mechanic eye, he looked around the town. Majority of the tallbuildings were a bronze or gold colour, and if not then they were purple. There were cogs and pipes everywhere that were mostly used as energy generators1 they were occasionally used for others things as well. All of the building were very tall, the only structure that was less then 2 stories was old woman Josie’s house, and that was because she nor her angel friends, whom she had all named Erika, could not climb up the many flight of stairs majority of the buildings had. He watched the inhabitants of Nightvale as they walked along the limestone pathways, the breeze causing the buildings that were barely supported by the force of propellors to sway gently.

 

Cecil let out a happy sigh as he once again opened up the rest of his eyes. Slowly getting out of the chair, he took a quick look at his beloved station. There were many cogs and pipes hanging from both the ceilings and the walls, connecting together his equipment and the stations broadcasting tower. He turned once again, quickly grabbing a pre-prepared plate of food for Khoshekh and walked over to the males bathroom.

 


	2. The Floating Cat of the Males Bathroom

Carlos took a deep sigh, his foot repetitively twitching as he sat, waiting for his flight number to appear on the ‘departing soon’ board. He liked this area of the airport, it was quieter, but still busy as ever. The scientist liked to look out the window at the special planes, if you could even call them that, and watch them rush off into the air, sending a booming ‘fwoosh’ noise all around. He looked over at the two younger scientists in his team that would be accompanying him to Nightvale. They were looking out the clear window with eager eyes, occasionally turning to whisper to one another.

 

“Private charter to Nightvale, flight DH 3648, boarding now” The speakers declared, followed by the familiar sound of the ‘airport jingle’ they always played after announcements.

 

Carlos sprang up, grabbing his two black carry on bags and began walking towards the boarding area, followed by the rest of his team.They didn't even make it to the entrance before a face he had some familiarity with stopped them.

 

“Hey!” The girl waved, her mayoral sash swaying with her waving arm movements. She walked towards the group of scientists and extended her hand to Carlos. “You guys must be the scientists working on the flux pinning project, the names’ Dana.” Her grip on Carlos’ hand was just as strong as her voice. He shook her hand back, or at least tried to without breaking his own.

 

“Nice to meet you, Mayor.”Carlos whispered, his voice conveying the amount of pain he was in. The mayor got the message and let go of Carlos’ hand before turning and shaking the rest of his scientists hands.

“Uh, well, the aircraft is just this way.” she said, waving her hand to signal the scientists to follow her. Carlos could tell that she was slightly anxious, and knew that if he were a mayor coming to get scientists from a whole other country to help stabilise their island, with the risk of it falling and killing everyone, he would to. She began walking down the boarding hall filled with ‘Enjoy your flight!’ and other security safety posters. As they reached the end, a poster caught Carlos’ eye. It was a rather large one, and had “Join the NVCR team!” Printed in bold caps across the top. Underneath it he saw a bunch of faces that didn't seem to be on the homepage the he had looked at earlier, and Cecil’s. He confirmed that in fact, he did have a third eye atop his forehead, which made Carlos even more fascinated with this radio host.

 

“Carlos! We’re boarding!” One of his team members shouted, causing him to snap out of his trance that he had fallen into upon observing the poster. Dana graciously held the door to the aircraft open for him. Suddenly, in one big flush, all the anxiety he had waiting in the departure lounge came back to him. Shakily stepping onto the white and silver aircraft, he tried to calm himself with deep breath exercises, before sitting down onto one of the plush, cushiony seats. Grabbing the belt on his right and pulling it over his body, he thought about all the things that could go wrong at this exact moment; Crashing down onto the ground, feeling so sick he couldn't complete the flight, suddenly feeling homesick in the middle of the flight. The list went on and on, and so did his worries. The anxiety-filled scientists looked up at the mayor of Nightvale, and she too, seemed just as nervous.

 

“I never really got used to this..” She whispered back with a slight giggle in her voice. Knowing he wasn't the only one on this flight that was nervous made him feel much better. 

 

It wasn’t long before the aircraft began to move a top speeds. Carlos suddenly regretted letting his guard down as his hand flew up to block his ears from the noises the machine was making. A robotic voice boomed over the noise of the engines, warning about safety precautions and other things Carlos really did not want to focus on during this time of worry. As the aircraft began to move faster Carlos felt his ears suddenly pop, causing him to block them even harder, which really did nothing but cause pain. Suddenly he felt a giant force push him down onto his seat, he swiftly let go of his ears and grab onto the arm seats. The robotic voice began a count down,

 

“10… 9… 8…”

 

Carlos began to slightly panic, the force of his feeble body was too strongfor he felt like his body was trying to rip into two. Soon he calmed down after hearing the numbers he wanted to hear.

 

“2… 1… Effective height reached”

 

The aircraft suddenly slowed down to the speed of which a normal plane would go at, giving Carlos and his team a chance to regain their senses. Carlos felt a rush of relief come over him, but it only lasted a couple of second before the motion sickness he knew he would have kicked in.

 

-

 

“Okay so do you know what he looks like normally, as in, not in a photo?”

 

“No! But that doesn't matter!”

 

Maureen let out a sigh, for the past 2 hours or so Cecil had not stopped talking about the new scientists arriving in town. He had been especially interested in one, and how he was all around perfect. Cecil had been gushing about the scientists so much that he probably had forgot that his very annoyed intern was there too, and he had still not even said his name or shown her a photo of him. 

 

“Can you at least tell me his na-“

 

A sudden knock at the door caused Cecil to quickly jump up and rushed over to a corner, just incase whoever was at the door decided to take a violent path of actions. Maureen held her breath as a medley of animalistic noises sprouted from the other side of the door, followed by an envelope being slipped underneath the entrance. The barbaric noises soon drowned out as Cecil began to creep over to the bronze door, slowly stretching down to pick up the letter that had his name signed across both the front and back. He cautiously opened the tenuous red seal and unfolded the letter inside. There seemed to be a very detailed letter, in which Maureen could not read from here, and before she could even turn back to her work, Cecil let out a squeal that sounded just like Khoshekh’s when he hadn't been fed for 4 hours. The intern wasn't even sure if it was because of happiness or because he as scared, but either way she really hoped it wouldn't cost her some of her college credit, or life for that matter. She was expecting Cecil to turn around at that moment and begin ranting about how station management had done this or that, or that Steve Carlsberg had finally been blocked from sending him e-mails, but instead he just stood there with a giant smile on his face, re-reading the letter again and again as if in disbelief. Maureen couldn't help but smile slightly both at how immature her boss was at times and at how he got excited so quickly. Eventually, she gave up waiting for Cecil to tell her about the letter and excused herself to go and feed Khoshekh. All she received was a simple nod, followed by a series of ‘mhm’s’ that were probably a signal that she could leave. 

 

The second that she stepped out of the broadcasting room and shut the door, she heard a massive squeal. Without even thinking, she walked a little bit faster towards the male bathroom. She did not want to deal with any form of monster, or elated Cecil for that matter. She didn't even know which one was scarier. Reaching into the shared intern fridge, she dug around for anything she could feed Khoshekh with. Soon enough she produced some sort of cat food, or maybe it was dog food. She wasn't entirely sure. The word ‘PET’ on the side of the can didn't exactly help either. Closing the fridge behind her, she walked into the males bathroom as Khoshekh began to hiss at her. The two did not exactly see eye to many-deep-holes-in-the-facial-area-that-were-presumably-eyes, but she needed that college credit, and dealing with a stubborn cat was the smallest of hurdles in her way so far. Opening up the can, she held it slightly in front of her, letting Khoshekh eat what was presumably the leftovers of assorted dead animal caucasus that the glow cloud had dropped. 

 

“Disgusting.” She muttered before hearing more screams from down the hall.

 

‘Maureen!” Her boss called, excitement filling his voice. She let out a sigh and placed the can of food down on the metallic sink before opening the door to face the danger that was her childish boss. 

 


	3. The Aircraft: Property of the Floating City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dana deals with her gut feelings, whilst Carlos' gut is trying to handle the flight.

Dana let out a deep sigh and gazed out of the small window at the clouds that passed her by, resting her head lightly atop her hand. Unlike ‘normal’ planes, which to Dana, were not particularly normal, this aircraft did not have any sort of entertainment system, so there was nothing to allay her boredom. As mayor, she did have a large pile of files to organise and work through, but she would much rather just stare out the window and watch the clouds roll past. It wasn't long before Dana decided that staring out the window was as boring as signing off of PTA meeting minutes. All they ever said was 

 

A L L H A I L .

 

She shivered lightly and reached down into her carry-on, digging around for a bit before pulling out a rather outdated looking phone. It looked like some sort of hybrid between a smart phone and a bunch of old cogs. It even had a little spout up the top that resembled the steam factories back in Nightvale, which she found kind of comforting for when she had to make these trips.

 

Turning it on, she flicked off airplane mode. She always did this on her trips, and it seemed that no-one seemed to notice. It had certainly never had any effect on the plane. She checked her texts, some from her mother, some from the previous mayor (probably about the lack of emergency press conferences), some from Cecil in all caps (meaning either another intern was just killed, or that station management actually had good news for once.) and another one from Josie about her friends, the angels, who most certainly do not exist. She put her phone away and reached back into her bag, grabbing out complaints, comments and everything else she needed to sign off on.

 

Her mind began to drift as she thought about the scientists that were currently sitting on the plane with her. She didn’t quite feel safe letting them into her well established community, but she knew it had to happen if she wanted the floating island to stay floating. She thought about the threats the government had given her, threatening to stop all power to the island and letting Nightvale drop to the ground. Happily, this did lead to Nightvale’s partner university sending over scientists to help, although she was very suspicious. She decided that focusing on her work was probably more important then just sitting here worrying.

 

She turned her attention back to the papers, and began with the first page on the pile,

 

“More drink fountains for the school…” she whispered, stamping the inked ‘approved’ stamp across the page. “Steve Carlsberg to be ban-“ She pushed that page over to the side, letting out a small chuckle as she did. It seems Cecil was always trying to get him removed from Nightvale. She wasn't sure why, but she wouldn't question it.

 

Soon enough the repetitive movements and monitors thinking patterns of approving some pages and refusing others had lulled her into a reverie but it was soon broken by the sound of a motion sick scientist who could no longer keep the contents of his stomach on the inside. 

 

-

 

Carlos took another gulp of the cool water that Dana had gotten for him. He wasn't sure how many times he had vomited thanks to the gentle sway of the air craft, but however much it did not make him feel better. Dana emerged from behind him and handed him 2 beige coloured pills.

 

“Here, it’ll calm your stomach, this way I won’t have to deal with that intolerable stench anymore!” She giggled, as Carlos shakily took accepted the pills. “I recommend taking them now, at least then when we land you wont feel sick!”

 

“Thanks.” he whispered, voice slightly shaky as he swallowed medication. He looked over at his fellow team mates, who didn't seem nearly as anxious nor as scared as he was. They were looking out the window, occasionally pointing at something that had caught their interest, or just anything really. Carlos turned back to face forwards, and tried to ease his stomach to a point in which he could relax again. He tried to remember the names and faces he had seen on the screen so introductions weren’t awkward. ‘Station management, not exactly sure’ He thought to himself ‘Dana, well you've already seen and met her. Cecil, he’s the one with the very, very scientifically interesting third eye.’ and he stopped there. He had trouble remembering names and even more trouble putting them to their matching faces. He didn't have this problem with remembering previous experiments or analysis he conducted, it was just… everything else. He could barely remember to remind himself that he needed to turn off the iron before going to work sometimes, and even right now he wasn't sure if he switched it off before he left.

 

 

He decided to put that terrifying thought out of his mind, and think more about the quest that he would have to face. Carlos had been informed that he would not be staying in Nightvale long, only 3 days at maximum, before travelling to its neighbouring town ‘Desert Bluffs’. Of course, he would have to make the journey there, which was supposed to last around a week. Even then, he was just visiting the other Floating City to gain permission to use some of their magnets, which could support both them and Nightvale. Of course, then he would travel back to Nightvale and-

 

Carlos gave up trying to keep track of what was going to happen. Trying to plan a full schedule before he knew any concrete dates was bogus anyway, so he decided to leave it at that. He tried to remember the official homepage of Nightvale he had viewed before coming on the plane. He was sure that there would be some sort of apartment he could lease, not just for his stay. He barely made the trip up to this Floating Town, and he was sure he would not make it back. Then again, he did quite like the look of Nightvale from the photos, it would be good to get a change of scenery for a while anyway.

 

 

‘After all, change is good, right?’ he told himself, feeling the sickness that had built up finally begin to ebb. Carlos let his eyes droop slightly so he could finally rest. He wasn’t sure of the last time he had slept, but however long ago it was too soon. Soon enough he drifted off into a quiet nap, and happily had no need to wake up to deal with his motion sickness for the rest of the ride.

  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written by mimiture  
> Edited by littlemisslevesque
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	4. The Arrival at the Floating City of Nightvale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carlos arrives at the Floating City of Nightvale, becomes ridiculously enamored with a certain three-eyed radio host, and promptly falls asleep on his couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weep woop, it's a full Carlos chapter!

Carlos was woken by the shaking of one of his team members. 

 

‘Carlos! I mean, Sir! I uh… we’re here.” He yelled enthusiastically. Carlos could see that he was really excited to have finally arrived, and Carlos was to, however, not for the same reason. The motion sickness pills seemed to have kicked in though, because for the rest of the trip, he was able to drift into a fitful but rested peace. Slowly peeling himself away from his seat, Carlos bent down and grabbed the two carry on brief cases he had brought with him. Making his way to the front of the plane, He felt a small hand tap his shoulder.

 

“Are you sure you don’t want any more medicine, just to take the edge off your motion sickness?” The mayor asked, worry clear in her voice. 

 

“Yeah, I’ll be fine…” Carlos responded, slightly unsure of his answer. He slowly walked away from the mayor and out of the aircraft that he now held vast pools of contempt for. His hand flew up to his forehead to block out the sunlight that had just blinded him, and blinked several times as his eyes adjusted to the bright light. A cool breeze blew through the air, sweeping the end of his white lab coat into the air. When he could open his eyes, without risk of setting his retinas in fire, he opened them so he could properly see. 

 

His eyes widened with surprise as he attempted to process all that was the magnificent floating city of Nightvale. The cogs and pipes that were shown in the photos looked even more marvellous when they were really turning and glinting in the sunlight. The pipes that occasionally blew out bursts of smoke just looked magical, not to mention the buildings contrasting colours of purple and bronze, which made the town look like something out of a fictional story. Taking a breath in of the air, it smelled so much cleaner and fresher then its lower counterparts, which was not what the scientist expected. He looked to his side, and his teammates looked just as enchanted as he did. The mayor to a step in front of the team of scientists, and lightly brushed her skirt to get all the dust off.

 

“Whew! Okay, finally here,” She began, taking a step back and throwing her arms backwards before presenting the view of Nightvale to the scientists. 

 

“Welcome, to The Floating City Nightvale!” 

 

The Mayor giggled slightly and began to walk down a flight of stairs Carlos hadn't noticed. The team of scientists followed behind her, with Carlos trailing behind. He looked around at the many people he could already see. 

 

They were all dressed weirdly, well he couldn't exactly describe it properly, but something along the lines of Victorian with a modern factory twist. Soon enough he had reached the bottom of the staircase, and he began to follow Dana through the crowded streets. He noticed that many of the people had mechanical limbs, either made of gold or silver, or perhaps it was some other type of metal? Either way, he was entranced by how they moved and the way the limbs worked. Staying close to his group, he felt that every citizen that passed him was staring at him. It was probably because of his lack of on-trend clothing that they had, or maybe his hair was just really messy. The crowd dwindled as they turned a sharp corner. So far, he had not seen anyone that didn't have a mechanical limb except for Dana, but he had not seen any mechanical third eyes either, which left him a bit more disappointed than he cared to admit.

 

After many minutes of walking, Carlos and his team of scientists, as well as Dana, arrived at a rather large set of peculiar apartments. As weird as they were, he couldn't say he didn't like them. As Dana led them into the apartment block, she began talking. Carlos wasn't paying attention though, and barely even caught the key words of the conversation.

 

“Always keep your key with you!…. Yes, the cloud does rain dead animals… Now I have these little earpieces for you… Yes they do look rather unique…They connect to the radio.”

 

“Radio?” Carlos asked, turning to look at Dana.

 

“Yes, thats what the earpieces are for!” She giggled, Placing a weird contraption and a key in his hand, Dana allowed the team of scientists out of the elevator. “Well, I have many important matters to attend to, but i’m sure you’ll be fine! After all, it was a long flight!” She turned and pressed the 1st floor button on the elevator, waving as the doors slowly closed. Carlos turned back to his team members, who were no longer present. Letting out a sigh, he knew they had probably ran into their rooms and were most definitely jumping on their beds. For esteemed university graduates, they certainly acted a lot like children. The scientist moved towards the apartment door, and slid the oddly shaped key into its corresponding keyhole, and turned it until he heard a quiet click. He pushed on the door and opened it smoothly.

 

To his surprise, the inside nothing like he expected. Instead of being like normal apartments, it looked almost like some sort of themed hotel. It had the same theme as the town, even down to the tiny pipes that let out some form of steam every now and then. Carlos found it absolutely charming. Looking up, he saw a giant window that looked over the whole of Nightvale. He slowly walked towards it and placed his hands softy on the fragile glass, Carlos looked out at the wonderful sight that was the Floating city of Nightvale. The skyline was tall and had an occasional blimp, that too like the rest of the town, probably held a plethora of cogs and pipes that all used some sort of steam to power it. 

 

Looking down at the town, he confirmed that yes, this place had to be out of a story book. It didn't take long for him to notice the slight swaying and bobbing of the buildings that would’ve sickened him if he didn't have the medication Dana had given him. Still feeling slightly tired from the previous flight, and not being sure what time it was, he decided to take a short nap on the sofa. Unfortunately for Carlos, his short siesta, became a rather long slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written by mimiture  
> Edited by Littlemisslevesque
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated :D


	5. The Voice of the Floating City of Nightvale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carlos' routine takes an unexpected turn when a flashing box appears in his new lab coats pocket.

Carlos awoke to the sound of someone pounding at his door,

 

“Carlos!?” A male voice yelled from the other side of the door. Using the several seconds he took to get from the sofa to the door to tidy up his hair, he flung open the door. It was in-fact one of his team members, wearing rather interesting clothing, very similar to what was usually worn by the citizens of Nightvale. “I-uh… hi! You’ve been asleep since yesterday and I wanted to tell you that, the rest of the team and I are going out to explore, so if you need us, just use the earpiece!” The team member smiled, waved and quickly turned. He ran off, shouting for someone to wait up for him. There was no explanation as to where he and the other person were going, just to use the earpiece if he needed them. Wondering what the hell just happened, Carlos stood in the doorway for a few moments longer, staring out into nothing.

 

After a while, he snapped out of his trance entered his apartment once again. Perhaps he would go and find out what Nightavle looked like in the mid-morning as well. Walking into the bedroom he had yet to touch, he decided to change into something that didn’t smell quite as bad as the set he was wearing right now. He zipped open his bag urgently, an suspicious feeling settling in the pit of his stomach, and flung open the suitcase. He looked down at the bag he had painstakingly packed, which was now completely empty. Letting out a long groan, the scientist stood up and looked around for any evidence that would tell who, or what, had taken his belongings. Soon enough, he found a letter atop the bedside table, placed under the earpiece that he had fallen asleep with in hand. He wanted to assume it was placed there by one of his team members, but as he looked at the letter, he noticed that it had been done by a typewriter, which he was sure none of the younger scientists owned, nor knew how to use. 

 

Flicking through the letter, it spoke about what Nightvale was all about, how to use the earpiece, and where his clothing was. Apparently it had been taken because it wasn’t up to Nightfall’s standards. He followed the enclosed instructions and placed the letter back on the bedside,  had written on it that the clothing had been taken, the letter was written very eerily, it both scared and intrigued Carlos. Putting aside the letter, the scientist flung open the closet, and with a deep sigh began to evaluate his new ‘up-to-standard’ wardrobe.

 

“Maybe I’ll find a Lion in there,” Carlos chuckled to himself at his own little joke, and began to flick through the garments that had been left for him, and almost choked at what he saw.

 

Carlos stared into the closet, shocked. The clothing inside looked just like his own, but with some sort of Nightvalian twist. He took out what he presumed was a lab coat and began to inspect it. Instead of stark white with the ‘University of What It Is’ logo, it was a dark, oily brown copper colour, with some sort of eye as the logo. It also had some cogs decorating it, which Carlos found extremely impractical, but visually pleasing. 

 

Placing the modified lab coat back on the clothes hangar, he looked back into the closet. It seemed to have only variants of the same collared shirt, sweater and pants combo, with a few personal clothing items to match. It was as if there was one for each situation, some clearly more fancy and others decidedly more casual. A collection of aviator goggles lined the top shelf of the closet, and looked like they belonged to some sort of neo-victorian era scientist or engineer. He took a pair off the shelf, and decided it was best that he tried to blend into this new, and strangely fashioned place.

 

* * *

 

 

Carlos took a deep breath in as he stepped out of the apartment building and began walking down the street. He had decided to go with the weirdly decorated lab coat, plain black pants and the mechanical goggles. Strolling down the street he decided to turn on the earpiece that he had clipped on earlier,

 

**“And John peters, you know, the previous factory worker, who had his legs destroyed? Yeah, he was recently attacked by his vicious ex-co-workers.  Happily he survived the attack and went on to…”**

 

As Carlos listened peacefully to the calming, milk and honey voice of the radio host, he walked through the busy streets of Nightvale, which were packed with people. After many minutes of silent walking, the scientist then noticed a lump in his lab coat where his phone and wallet usually were, that was slightly buzzing. Reaching down, he retrieved a small remote-control like object, with small flashing buttons and a screen that read what a seemingly random sequence of numbers. Taking a closer look at the remote, he began to move it about. 

 

Carlos pointed it in front of him, and as if in response, its buttons began to blink and light up more. The intrigued scientist walked forwards slowly as the object continued to blink. Soon enough, he stopped focusing on what was going on around him and began to follow where the control wanted him to go. As he continued to move throughout Nightvale, the remote control suddenly stopped blinking and lit up fully, the blinding light indicating it had reached a destination. Carlos looked in front of him, and to his astonishment he had walked all the way across town to the Nightvale Community Radio Station. He could hear the radio hosts voice from both the earpiece and from the thin wall that was separating them. Taking a deep breath, Carlos decided the best cause of action now is to see what this controller wanted him to find. The scientist politely knocked at the door, slightly opening it so he could peek his head in.

 

 **“Oh, Nightvale! It seems we have a visitor!”**  The radio host spun around in his chair, with a somewhat ridiculous amount of verve. The scientist, not having thought of a plan of action, smiled and waved sheepishly before trying to point at the controller. 

 

**“He seems to have in his hand a small remote control, with all its various bells and whistles, glowing and lighting up like mechanical intumescences, shining on his bared teeth like a military cemetery, which we all hate and despair and love.”**

 

Carlos felt his cheeks heat up from the comment, they hadn't done that in an awful long time.

 

‘W-was that a compliment?’ He asked himself, suddenly unable to speak.

 

“I, uh…” Carlos began, attempting to explain why he was at the station, “This machine detected, uh, serious poisonous gases! Yeah, I just though it was worth… you know… just making sure no-one was dead or anything…” The flustered scientists looked at the ground and pushed his hair back before once again asking if everyone was okay in the station.

 

 **“Oh, yes! Everyone is okay, its all just… just neat over here!”** Cecil responded. Carlos was pretty sure he was slightly nervous too. He took a quick glance at the radio hosts face, he did not expect it to be that… that… visually pleasing or flustering for that matter. Since he did not want to be rude and stare any longer, he waved goodbye and said thanks before closing the station door behind him.

 

He let out a heavy sigh, but the image of the radio host would not leave his head. He walked slowly along the road, once again zoning out as he thought about the previous encounter.

 

‘He was just so…’ Carlos thought in his head,

 

**“Perfect, his hair, his smile…”**

 

“… I didn't expect him to be so cute,”

 

**” …so perfect,”**

 

The two’s thoughts and voices suddenly combined as they both said and thought simultaneously, 

 

_“And I fell in love instantly.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written by Mimiture  
> Edited by Littlemisslevesque
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	6. The Mayor of the Floating City of Nightvale

 

It had passed around two days since Carlos had left the apartment, and even more since he had seen his team members. He spent his days in his apartment listening to the radio and researching about how he could properly flux pin such a large area, and it had been on day three that he had gotten an idea.

 

Using the apartments home phone, he typed in the number of the radio station,

 

“Uh, yes hi this is Carlos, calling for… business reasons…” He spat out urgently, he didn’t want to seem as if he was flustered from calling the radio host, so he though adding ‘for business reasons’ would be a good idea. 

 

“Carlos! Nightvale it seems that perfect Carlos has called the station, well what do you need Carlos?”

 

“I just wanted to ask, do you know if the neighbouring town Desert Bluffs uses flux pinning?”

 

“Desert Bluffs…” Cecil angrily whispered under his breath, “Yes, why?” He questioned back.

 

“Oh, its just that ill be going there for a week and I figured that Nightvale could use some of its magnets and I..” Carlos was cut off by Cecil letting out a deep sigh,

 

“Good, I thought you were thinking of moving there! As you should know, I am not the biggest fan of our neighbouring town, and yes they do use flux pinning!”

 

“Thanks!” Carlos most yelled down the line as Cecil quickly said goodbye. He hung up, also taking out the earpiece whilst he was out it. He knew that the next couple of minutes of broadcasting  was probably going to be about him. The scientist appreciated the comments, and even just the sound of Cecil’s voice, but it slightly distracted him at times. 

 

After many minutes of walking around his apartment, he finally decided to take a look out his window. The view was very beautiful, but it also made his stomach very sick. He grabbed the motion-sickness treating pills and a glass of water, swallowing them before noticing that there were barely any left. He let out a deep sigh, looks like he was going to have to go out again. He grabbed his earpiece and placed it in his ear before turning it on. There was only a high pitched continuos beeping noise. Saddened that he had missed the rest of Cecil’s broadcast,  he grabbed a new lab coat before walking out the door and having to face the public.

 

* * *

The phone next to Dana's side gave a subtle buzz, breaking the silence that filled her office. At first, she felt very annoyed. There hadn't been one threat from Hiram about overthrowing her that day, and she wanted to keep it that way. Then again it could be someone who she didn't mind, one of her friends, or even better, her Mom. She picked up the mobile, filled both with annoyance and glee, and pressed the ‘Answer call’ button,

 

“Hello! Mayor Dana speaking,”

 

“Ah yes! Hello Dana how is your work going!” The voice was high pitched and brittle, as if a mix between a child’s and a grown man’s, almost unmistakable. Dana let out a sigh, she had gotten all hyped up for nothing!

 

“Kevin, I have told you that I am not allowing Cecil to come and visit you, even if you are his double! And there is no way I am letting you take over Nightva-“

 

“Oh please, don’t be so quick to judge!” The voice laughed, “Plus, you wouldn't know what it's like with your double still alive! You killed yours after all…” Dana gritted her teeth, she very much disliked talking to Kevin. He was so nice about such, not-nice things, and always managed to make her feel like complete shit when she got out of the conversation.

 

“Well what do you need then?” She said angrily, trying to resist swearing at him.

 

“Oh I just wanted to say that it will be fine to send the scientist and his team over, and it would be even better if they brought along Cecil too! Yes, that would be a big plus. Well, I’ll see you later!”

 

Before Dana could even decline the offer, Kevin had hung up. The soft beep from the other side of the phone sounded through the mayors ears as she stared into nothing with shock. Desert Bluffs never allowed a citizen from Nightvale to enter their borders, so how come the new scientists, and Cecil, were exceptions? 

 

She let out a sigh, there was no explanation for this, and she would not be sending Carlos or Cecil to Desert Bluffs. The journey there was too dangerous, especially since she had been elected. She thought about the many miles that aircrafts were not allowed to cross, and that had to be taken by feet. She remembered the one time that one of her previous intern co-workers decided to leave for Desert Bluffs, no-one ever heard of him again. In fact, almost everyone had forgotten about his existence entirely. In all photos he was in he just showed up as a black ink mark on the photo.

 

There was no way she was going to let either of them go, but she knew that Carlos needed to travel the distance for his project none the less. Dana suddenly remembered someone, someone that said they always knew where they were thanks to the apparent magnetic lines that he could see. She picked up her phone with urgency and dialled the only number she knew that could help them,

 

“Uh, yes, this is mayor Dana talking. Steve I… we, need your help.”

 

 


	7. Chapter 7- The Man Who Sees the Lights Above the Floating City of Nightvale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Carlos talk business, and radio hosts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, super late chapter! I'll make it up to you guys by posting two ;u;
> 
> Anyway, I really hope you enjoy the rest of the story! Things are going to start kicking into action soon!

Carlos had gotten a call from the mayor, no more then 2 days ago, telling him about a man whom might help with his project. His name was Steve Carlsberg, and apparently he could see lights above the floating city that no one else could see. They were presumably very strong magnetic forces, ones strong enough to hold up a city. Dana had told him that if Carlos wanted to leave for Desert Bluffs and come back alive, or at all, he would need to bring the one person who actually knew where he was going with him. Carlos had no reason to disagree, so he agreed to meeting up with this ‘Steve’ down at the City hall. 

 

It didn’t take Carlos long to get there. Even though he had only spent a week or two in Nightvale, he found himself slowly but surely learning where everything was. As he quickly walked up the steep steps to the large building, he saw a man, or maybe it was a woman, with a tan jacket holding a large, beige briefcase that emitted a small buzzing noise, as if it contained bees. Carlos only looked the figures way for a few seconds before continuing to walk into the City hall, he didn’t want to be rude and stare after all.

 

He entered the building slowly. The inside of it was just like its outer counterparts, rusting cogs and intertwining pipes, with dark, tall mauve walls. Looking around the large building, he caught the eyes of, whom he presumed was Steve Carlsberg.

“Ah! Carlos!” The man said, waving and confirming Carlos’ hypothesis that the man was in fact, Steve Carlsberg. The man spoke with a thick accent, and seemed to dress in a toned down style of the normal Nightvale clothing. It almost looked, well, normal. The two approached each other with a warm smile and a handshake before Steve spoke,

 

“So, lets talk business!” 

 

 

It had passed some time, and the two had sorted out almost all their plans.

 

“Okay, so let me see if I can remember this,” Carlos said as he tried to remember the plans that they had discussed. “ We will be taking an aircraft to the ‘Desert’ area, which is the space between Nightvale and Desert Bluffs,”

 

“Yeah, correct.”

 

“And then we will be travelling across by foot because aircrafts are not allowed to be flown over that area. You will then guide us to the Desert Bluffs location via the lines you see in the sky.”

 

“Yep! Thats about it, its sounds simple but I’ve tried to do it before, did not turn out well.” He chimed, seeming almost happy about their new plan to go again. “Oh right, and you know Cecil’s coming with us? Or at least I’ll try to get him too… something about Kevin only wanting to s-“ Carlos barged in, surprise in his voice, 

 

“T-The radio host? The one at the station?”

 

“Yeah, Kevin, his double, will only allow us through if we have him with us. I mean sure, he doesn't exactly like me, but i’m sure he'll come if I mention you!”

 

“Double? Wait, can you explain this to me? Why does Cecil have a double?” Steve let out a happy sigh, as if laughing at Carlos’ attempts to try and understand.

 

“Don't try to understand. Some say they were twins, others says magical forces, no one really knows. All thats known is that if we’re to keep Nightvale stable in the sky we need to visit the Desert Bluffs, and we need Kevin to let us in. For that, we need Cecil”

 

Carlos thought deeply about this arrangement, not just about Kevin but also about Cecil. The last time they spoke Carlos was pretty much about to melt into a puddle of embarrassment and nervousness, so he wasn't sure how he'd survive a week with the radio host, but he’d have to if he wanted to keep this island afloat. 

 

“Y’know, I have a family here in Nightvale,” Steve said, his voice shaky and nervous. “and now that you’re here, they’ll be, they might be, okay.” The relief and nervousness is Steve’s voice made it complicated to see if he was happy or worried. Either way, Steve kept on talking,

“Cecil never really liked me, not sure why. I mean, I’m not his biggest fanboy but, he just hates me so much. Perhaps it was because I married his sister, but I still, don’t get why…”

Carlos looked downwards, he wasn't the best at these types of moments. He was a man of science, he knew how to conduct a test correctly with barely any flaws, not how to make people feel better.

 

“But hey!” Steve chimed, obviously putting on a layer of fake optimism to make sure he didn’t burden Carlos with his troubles too much. “It’s okay! And I actually have something for you to help me with, I think you’ll like it.”

 

And so the two talked about plans for a special gift that would help their chances of getting to the Desert Bluffs much larger.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written by mimiture  
> Edited by LittlemissLevesque 
> 
> Thanks for the support!


	8. The Main Rivalry of The Floating City of Nightvale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You would think that they fought all the time, but sometimes they actually don't want to murder each other, especially when it concerns Nightvale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someday, I promise, LittlemissLevesque will edit on time.

The silence of the radio station was broken with a creak from the bathroom door. Cecil jolted in his seat a little and his hand erred in the repetitive manoeuvre of stroking Khoshek’s fur. He wasn’t really bothered with the fact that someone had entered his office without permission, after all station management did it all the time, and he knew that it was better to just leave the surprise visitor be then check for the tell-tale caustic, yellow residue that Station Management often left in its wake.

 

So he continued to stroke Khoshekh and ignore the visitor.

 

“H-hello? Cecil?” A voice called from the doorway, Cecil’s hand completely jarred in its activity altogether, and he cringed and began to smash his head against the wall beside him. Certainly no the best way to deal with the situation, but it kept him from going out there and strangling the visitor himself.

 

“Cecil?! Its Steve!” An annoyingly jovial voice called out.

 

“CECIL IS NOT CURRENTLY PRESENT, PLEASE  **DO NOT**  COME AGAIN.” Cecil shouted, affecting a fake sounding Weird Spanish accent, The door beside him creaked open as the visitor walked into the males bathroom. 

 

“Cecil, do you honestly believe that I would fall for tha-“ Steve was cut off by a long, fatigued groan from Cecil.

 

“It was worth a shot” He groaned and he stopped hitting his head on the wall and turned to face Steve. “What do you want.” It seemed like more of a demand then a question, but Steve answered anyway.

 

“I… I need you to come with me to Desert Bluffs.”

 

Cecil stared at Steve with an utterly bewildered look on his face that read, ‘Are you actually serious about this?’He even rolled his third eye, just to show how annoyed he was at that question, and how obvious the answer was.

 

“Seriously Cecil, we need to help the scientists with their project, if we don’t then the government will be shutting down the propellors that hold up Nightvale. So can you just please-“ Steve was cut off loudly by Cecil’s irate voice.

 

“ **S t e v e   C a r l s b e r g!**  You know I can’t leave this radio station! The people need their news to stay safe! Who else will host the show?! Even better, you’re asking  **ME**  to come with  **YOU** , I think we both know I would kill you before we reached the Desert otherworld!” Cecil’s breathing deepened as his face turned a shade chartreuse. Steve knew that he had a radio show to host! How dare he even suggest Cecil leave! His insides boiled with anger, he did not want to leave. Not just because of the radio show, but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to report on things, which always made him feel terribly homesick. Cecil turned away in anger as he felt his eyes well up with tears. He knew he shouldn’t be scared, he had denied it and Steve should respect that.

 

“Cecil, I know you don’t like leaving, but I have a solution,” Cecil tried to cover up his sadness with another long groan before shutting his eyes. He felt a tap on his shoulder, “Here,” Steve said, handing Cecil a small box. He decided to take the offering, after all gifts can't be that bad. Except for the ill-fated T-shirts of him and Earl.

 

Cecil’s eyes lit up as he looked upon the marvellous gift he had received. It was an almost exact replica of the 50’s Style station microphone he loved so much, but with a small recording box on the side with the NVCR logo engraved on it.

 

“Carlos made it. I told him about him about your homesickness and so we decided that this might make you feel better about leaving the station for such a long period of time. “

 

“Thank you…” Cecil began before noticing what Steve had done, “Wait! You told Carlos?! I swear on my mothers blood stones I’m going to kill you Steve!” Steve only smiled, as if ignoring what Cecil said. 

 

Soon enough Cecil had finished putting all the curses he knew onto Steve and took a deep breath. 

 

“Fine, I’ll come.” Cecil spat bitterly, turning to face the wall again. 

 

“Well that’s certainly very good news” Steve replied, smiling down at his brother-in-law,

 

“Now get out before I get Khoshekh to kill you.”

 

“Khoshekh couldn’t hurt a fly”

 

“Well its good that you're just a walking bag of organs and regret, hey?”

 

Steve chuckled and made his way out of the station, he actually kind of liked times like these, times when Cecil wasn't about to stab him. Just as Steve opened the door he turned around, quickly,

 

“Oh! And Carlos will be coming too!” Steve shouted before quickly running out of the station, listening to the loud, screechy, gurgling noise that had just erupted from the Station behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written by mimiture  
> Edited by LittlemissLevesque
> 
> Thanks for your support!


	9. Leaving the Floating City of Nightvale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leaving Nightvale is rather hard for those whom have lived there their whole life, but for others its as easy as packing a bag.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! There is some swearing in spanish in this chapter, so heres a heads up if you don't understand what it means!
> 
> Thank you for your support!

Carlos tossed half of his closet haphazardly into his ‘Nightvalified’ travel bag, not bothering to fold the garments as the piled up in around his bag.He knew Nightvalified was a made up word, but he used it to describe any of his items that had that distinct Nightvale look. And there were a lot of them. 

 

Carlos thoroughly disliked packing for travelling, and leaving home… but he knew this was for science. He took a deep breath and turned to the travel bag that was piled up messily with assorted lab coats and pants. Pushing all of the clothing into the so it fit, he attempted to zip the overfilled bag up, and heaved heavily doing so. There was probably an easier way to pack, but the scientist was too stressed and lazy to think of one. Grabbing the bag with all the energy he had left, he hauled it onto the next room and dropped it near the front door and coincidentally, atop his foot. Letting out a small squeal, the scientists hopped around, holding his foot and cursing every deity of he knew of, for his lack of concentration.

 

“Mierda! Mierda!” He yelped,

 

He hopped over to the sofa and decided to sit there for a couple of minutes, after all he wasn't in a rush and it wasn't like his foot was going to let him get anywhere anyway. Carlos began to wonder what it might be like on the ship… or aircraft? He wasn’t quite sure yet what he would be travelling in, but he expected it to be a much smaller version of the aircraft he came in. Steve had said that they would be travelling above ground due to some urban legend. Apparently those that don’t belong in Nightvale would be trapped there, however, hadn’t had a single recorded incident yet.

 

Carlos’ mind began to drift to the unlikely guest that they were forced to bring with them. Otherwise Kevin wouldn't allow them into Desert Bluffs. But Carlos wasn’t able to focus on the problem at hand, his mind was swimming with anxiety as he thought of being in a small, confined, floating aircraft with the person who made him so tongue-tied he couldn’t  even from a coherent sentence. His eye twitched, and he banished that thought from his mind quickly, the scientist assured himself that nothing bad would happen and all would be fine. Of course, he was man of reason and knew that it was almost impossible for him to know that, but he could always try to trick his mind into believing otherwise.

 

Suddenly, the scientist felt a familiar twisting sensation in his stomach, that he hadn’t felt in a long while. He rushed over to the kitchen and downed to of the pills Dana had given him dry, before washing them down with water. Carlos really needed to remember to take them more often, so he placed them in his pocket for safekeeping, now ready to leave for the strange place called ‘Desert Bluffs’. 

 

* * *

 

“Cecil! Your bags all packed!” 

 

Intern Maureen screamed, as she began to rise frothier position, kneeling next to a rather large bag of clothing that she had just folded. She shook her head as she thought of the sheer amount of clothing Cecil had, but also the percentage of those that were leather pants. She lifted the overfilled bag with relative ease, and took it over to her boos. Sometimes she wished she could slap him in the face for making her do everything for him, but she knew that would be putting her college credit at risk, so she decided to leave that idea for another day.

 

Maureen stepped into the broadcasting section of the radio station and marched straight over to the seat her boss usually occupied and found that he wasn't there. She glared at the seat and dropped the bag with a loud thud.

 

“Cecil, I swear upon the Glo-

 

**A L L  H A I L**

 

w Cloud, if you don’t hurry up and get out here…!”

 

She waited silently for a reply, but none came. She grunted and walked down the hall, checking each of the rooms one by one until she reached the Male Bathroom. She let out a deep sigh as a calm, echoing voice wafted out form the bathroom.

 

“Hey, do you think I look okay? Yes, these are my favourite pair of fluffy pants Khoshekh, you know me oh-so-well! Yes, well, I know I can never be as perfect as him, but I can try Khoshekh, I can try…”

 

Maureen let out another sigh, pitying that fact that her boss that was talking to the cat in the bathroom. She watched the clock, its cogs seemingly turning slower then normal as the hand continued to tick. The door creaked open as Maureen jumped back, her boss emerging with the biggest, hundred-watt smile he could manage. 

 

“Okay, I’m ready to do this whole Desert Bluffs thing!” He chimed, walking past her and into his station. “Now Maureen, you know what to-“

 

“Yes, you’ve explained it to me a million-and-one times.”

 

“And you know that you have to-“

 

“Make sure to include all the segments, don’t talk about personal stuff and to make sure that the tapes don’t burst into flames like they did last time”

 

“I’m still angry at you for that” He said happily. Maureen knew she had been forgiven, but it seemed that Cecil liked to keep her feeling like she needed to stay here more, just to make it up to him. His hand quickly picked up the bag, extending the handle so he could wheel it along instead of carrying it. Cecil turned back to Maureen as he tried to smile again, 

 

“Take care of Khoshekh for me, okay?”

 

“Yeah… sure..” She muttered, barely able to get the words out in time before Cecil had left the station building. Reaching down in the stations archive folder, she reached for the tape with ‘-DAY ONE-‘ written on it and loaded it into the old cassette player. The sound of a regular broadcast filled the room as she sat down on her bosses chair, finally able to relax.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written by mimiture  
> Edited by LittlemissLevesque
> 
> Thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Written by mimiture  
> Edited by LittleMissLevesque
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
